To properly assess the significance and enduring legacy of Mussolinis Fascism, one must consider not only the European context and the Hitler regime, but also the entirety of Italys twentieth-century historyincluding the *Duces* antecedents and afterlifeas well as the *Risorgimento* era in light of the First World War. In this respect, Fascism proves to be by no means a mere historical aberration or a parenthetical interlude in Italian historyas Benedetto Croce variously suggestedbut rather an integral part of its very core; consequently, any engagement with this sinister quarter-century remains central to the country and its sense of self.
